


Ravenwood - BOOK 1 - Predator

by ArrowAzura



Series: Attack on Titan - Ravenwood [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Blood Magic, F/M, Magic-Users, Shapeshifting, Titan Shifters, Titan-Haired Eren Yeager
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-10
Updated: 2017-07-19
Packaged: 2018-11-30 04:42:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11456226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArrowAzura/pseuds/ArrowAzura
Summary: Where did Eira Ravenwood come from? In the year 839, the Survey Corps found this strange child wandering outside the walls with no memory of how she got there. Only her name and her mysterious powers she brought with her to the military. With proper Survey Corps teaching combined with her special abilities, Eira lives her life with the higher ups of the Scouts. She now benefits the military as humanities secret weapon against the titans.She catches the eye of a puzzling green eyed trainee, who longs to know her secrets in the art of battle.. . .After the Fall of Wall Maria, Eira is forced to train in the trainee corps. She soon makes acquaintances with a boy who shares the same goal as her, and understands the pain of the world in the same way that she does. They learn with each other a new type of feeling and that going up against man eating beasts is much easier when you find someone to fight for again.





	1. PROLOGUE

**PROLOGUE**

 

Year 839, Outside Wall Maria

 

_ I remember a little, but not much. I was under a tree when I woke up, my head was hurting, and my mind repeated a person’s scream that I couldn’t recognize. I remember waking up, but being tired. My eyes were blurry, and I was covered in somebody’s blood. I didn’t know where it came from. Why I was there, and what I was supposed to do next; that I never knew, and I probably never will. _

 

_ I was small, and the forest of many trees seemed bigger in the eyes of a four year old girl. There was a bag next to me, filled with books and tools. The books, I couldn’t read, but some of the objects in my bag I recognized. A portrait of my mother; I think my dad was the one that painted it. There was a compass with some strange symbols on it, as well as a necklace with a star on it. At the bottom of my bag was a box, but I didn’t feel like opening it at the time. _

 

_ I was hurting a lot, but I didn’t scream. My pain made me shift uncontrollably, and it made me even more tired than I was. Everything within my sight went black, and I didn’t do anything but decide to let death accept me. At that moment, I didn’t care if the titans came to eat me. I couldn’t do anything. _

 

_ There was a blinding light, and then it was almost as if I was floating amongst the stars. _

_ “Shouldn’t I be dead?” I thought. The place I was in wasn’t Paradise, as I had expected to go when I died. I was shifted as a fox cub at the time, and I searched around, wondering why I was there. There were voices, jumbled up and distorted in my ears. Souls were wandering. I couldn’t see them, but I could tell they were there. _

 

_ In the distance, I saw a figure; an animal spirit. I could see through them. It was a fox, another one of my kind, I assumed. _

 

_ “Who are you, and where am I?” I asked them. They looked old, and I’m guessing they had been wandering in this place for a while, or they had died really old. Their soul energy showed through the middle of their chest; it was strong and possibly pure. His energy flowed and swirled out of him, and went through my own. I could feel myself fading away from that place, and back into the world of the living. I didn’t wake up out of my sleep, but I heard voices. _

 

_ “All units, forward!!” _

 

_ “Commander! Wait, I see something!” _

 

_ “I see it too!” _

 

_ “It’s a child! We have to help it!” _

 

_ “Quickly, Hanji! There are Titans heading in!” _

 

_ “Levi! Help me! Get that bag!” _

 

_ They were soldiers, that much I could tell. Didn’t they have them where I was from?  _

 

_ I felt someone pick me up, and only then did I open my eyes. A woman looked down at me with theses big brown eyes that reminded me of my mother. I took a look around me. There were a many alliance of soldiers that were flying around with swords, slashing the titan’s weak spots that my mother had taught me of. I was lifted up onto a horse in front of the woman who was carrying me, and we rode fast, dodging the titans and the people who were fighting them. _

 

_ I wanted to help. It was all I wanted to do. It was almost s if it was my purpose. I think I had a purpose before I woke up in the woods; I just don’t remember what. Why couldn’t I remember anything about myself before I came here? _

 

_ We stopped after finding a safe spot and all the threatening titans were disposed of by the soldiers.I got off the horse and took my satchel, trotting towards a low hanging tree branch. _

 

_ “Wait, sweetie! Wait!” the woman shouted, running after me. “What are you doing out here?” _

 

_ I swung my feet off of the side of the branch I was sitting on. I didn’t know, to be honest. I didn’t remember anything except my name and my mom. I looked up and saw another person coming towards us. He was smaller than the woman directly in front of me, with a smug and pissed look on his face. _

 

_ “Hanji, what the fuck is a child doing outside the walls?!” _

 

_ “I don’t know, Levi. She won’t talk. She hasn’t since I picked her up.” She replied. I wasn’t too fond of ‘Levi.’ He seemed like the kind of man who woke up on the wrong side of the bed on a regular basis.  Out of the corner of my eye, the Commander and his followers came into view of the refuge.  _

 

_ “Alright, everyone, listen up! Patch up any parts of you that’re wounded and replenish your gas supply as quick as you can. We head back to the wall in fifteen minutes! Use it wisely! Erwin, come with me!” _

 

_ The commander and ‘Erwin’ walked over to where we were, and I tried my best to stay calm.  _

 

_ “Hanji, Levi. What’s the news on this kid? Did we get anything out of her.” I reached into my bag and toyed around with my compass, making it go different directions.  I noticed the emblem on their jackets; A set of wings, one white and one blue. I felt like I’ve seen it it before, but once again, where? _

 

_ “Nothing. It doesn’t seem like she wants to talk.” ‘Hanji’ put her hand on my shoulder, rubbing my arm, trying to comfort me. I appreciated it. _

 

_ “Sweetie, can you at least tell us your name?” She gingerly moved her hand up to my cheek, softly bringing my face up to look up at the group of soldiers. I finally gave them an answer, seeing how eager they were. _

 

_ “Eira . . .” They looked at one another, debating on what to do with me. I could tell. The commander pulled Hanji, Levi and Erwin aside, hiding their conversation from me. Curious, I shifted my ear into a fox and adjusted it to listen in on their conversation. _

 

_ “We have no choice, Hanji. We have to take her to the shelter in the inner wall.” _

 

_ “C’mon! If she was out here and she survived this long, we need to find out why! She could’ve come from a place that knows how to survive the titans.” _

 

_ “Hanji, that’s absurd! How could someone survive the titans without ODM gear?” _

 

_ “Not that we know of! Maybe there’s another way we don’t know of, yet.” _

 

_ “Are you even hearing yourself, shitty-glasses?” _

 

_ “We’ll bring her to the shelter in wall Sina when we return. They’ll take care of her until someone adopts her.” _

 

_ “Commander Shadis , if I could-” _

 

_ “But nothing, Hanji! We could get in a lot of trouble. Besides, the Survey Corps is no place to raise a child in.” _

 

_ Without needing to hear anymore, I took my satchel and ran. There was no way I was going to an orphanage.  _

 

_ “Eira, wait!” The team started running after me. I didn’t stop until a hand grabbed my shoulder and spun me around; it was Levi. He looked mad, and he thought he could easily grab me, but he didn’t know what i was capable of. _

 

_ “Where do you think you’re going!?” I did what I had to do; I shifted. I wasn’t exactly sure what this animal was called. At the time, it seemed right to use. It was agile and small, yet strong. Perfect way to escape. There was a flash of blue lightning for a moment, and I was fully transformed. I looked at Levi’s shocked and bewildered face, then sunk my fangs deep into his forearm. After injuring him, I ran. I swiftly moved through the legs of the many horses and soldiers, before climbing up one tree and leaping from one tree to another. _

 

_ I hid myself in the branches, and watched the soldiers confused speech from afar. _

 

_ “Did you see that! The little shit bit me!” _

 

_ “How is that even possible!?” _

 

_ “We underestimated her!” _

 

_ “That was sorcery! No doubt about it!” _

 

_ “How would you know?? Sorcery doesn’t exist!” _

 

_ “Well it does now!” _

 

_ “What kind of animal was that?! I’ve never seen one like that before! Was it a cat?! Or a fox?! Or maybe something in between?!” _

 

_ “HANJI! Calm the fuck down! She’s getting away!!” _

 

_ Everyone stared and argued in awe. Hanji, being the most excited out of them. I smiled at their confusion, and shifted back into my normal form. I dug through my bag, looking for anything I could use. Then. I noticed it. The portrait of mom, it was gone! Where was it!? _

 

_ “I found her! She’s up there!” I gasped. There was a tall man, holding the portrait in his hand, pointing in my direction with the other. He was taller than any other _

 

_ “Where, Mike? Where is she?!” Hanji screamed. _

 

_ “She’s in the tree!” Everyone looked up at me. I tightened the lock on my satchel, shifted back into a fox, and jumped through the branches. _

 

_ “All units! Bring her to us!” _

 

_ “Alive! ALIVE! We need her alive!” Hanji yelled. All soldiers geared up as fast as they could and flew through the trees after me. I jumped from branch to branch, escaping their clutches as much as I could. Eventually, I lost my footing, and fell; trying to grasp onto the trees, I let out an animalistic whimper. I expected death once more, but it never came. Someone grabbed me by the tail and held me hostage. They grabbed my muzzle in an attempt to stop me from biting them. They succeeded in doing so, and as I shifted back to a human, I attempted to escape once more. I adjusted my eyes upwards and saw it was Erwin holding me still. I kicked, cried and screamed.  _

 

_ “Let go of me! Let me go!” The soldiers who flew after me came down from the trees and watched in disbelief as I tried to struggle. Hanji, Levi, and Shadis came out from the crowd, again, debating what to do with me. I gave them a death glare, tears falling out of my eyes. I’m guessing it was hard for them to feel sympathetic when they saw Levi’s blood dripping down my mouth. _

 

_ “Hanji, sedate her.” Shadis instructed. I kicked and screamed even more, seeing Hanji take a large needle out of her bag. _

 

_ “Stop struggling, Eira.” I heard Erwin say. _

 

_ “Eira, we’re trying to help you.” Hanji said, cleaning off the needle and taking my arm in her other hand, holding it still. I was paralyzed with fear. Even before Hanji dug the needle in my vein, I blacked out from the adrenaline rush mixed with the fear. _

  
  
  
  
  
. . . .  
  
  
  
  
  


_ “You will train her harder than any Survey Corps member ever before her. She’ll become the fiercest soldier humanity has ever seen. But keep a close eye on her. We still don’t know exactly what she is.” _

  
  
  


_.  .  .  . _

 

_ My name is Eira Ravenwood, and I am Humanity’s secret weapon. _

  
  
  
  
  



	2. Chapter One - To you in 2,000 years, The attack on Wall Maria, Part 1

YEAR 845

Wall Maria, Shiganshina District

Eira was shifted into a dog at the time. A husky mutt, to be exact. She put on a fake ID collar, with a Survey Corps Identification number she used when she had to wander outside Headquarters. Eira was in the Market near the outermost wall, at the time. In a short time, she persuaded the Military to recruit search dogs for the military. They eventually listened, seeing more benefits to the matter than problems.

 

The Survey Corps was on an expedition outside of the walls. She had gone with them a few times, almost getting injured. It was allowed by the government when they issued the custody of her to the Survey Corps when they found Eira. It was Shadis’ and Erwin’s decision to not bring her outside the walls until she was at the proper age to be legally entered into the military.

 

Her stomach growled in hunger, and Eira decided to go to Shiganshina in search of food. She knew just the place to look; the butcher shop. Butchers had soft spots for dogs, always willing to give scraps to poor strays on the street. All Eira had to do was use her charm to persuade them enough to throw her some meat.

 

The smell of blood filled her nose; a mixture of pork, beef, turkey, and many other prey animals. It was delectable and intoxicating.  Almost irresistible. She stood on her hind legs, scratching at the back entrance of the shop and slightly barking to get the attention of the butcher.

 

The door opened, the butcher’s assistant being the one who opened it. Eira knew him; he would consider her a regular ‘customer.’ Eira tilted her head to one side, lightly whining.

 

“Hey there, little guy. Wait right there.”

 

She waited. He came back with a slab of meat and threw it at her. It was freshly cut, and really bloody. Just the way she liked it. She took off in another alleyway to finish her meal. As Eira ate, she thought. She thought about everything. Why she was inside the walls. Everyday, she searched her mind for memories that could possibly help her understand why she was outside the walls or where she came from. She never did. Her mind wandered again to the titans. The wall. Things didn’t add up in her mind, but she never gathered up the courage to say it to anyone.

 

Where did humanity find time to build the three walls while the titans were attacking them? Logically speaking, three walls hundreds of miles long and fifty meters high would have taken many years to construct. How did they do it?

 

The ringing of the bell in the town square jolted Eira out of her thoughts, as well as the rumbling beneath her feet. The gates were opening, the Survey Corps was  back from their expedition. Eira gulped down the rest of her meat semi-quickly, running to go and welcome back the Survey Corps.

 

When she got there, most of the Research Brigade was already inside the walls. When she arrived and caught glimpse of most of the Corps, she felt like she entered hell. So many sad and disappointed faces. Half of the soldiers were injured, and half of that half was missing some type of body part. She was glad, if not overjoyed, to see that Hanji, Levi, Erwin, Shadis and Mike seemed to be uninjured.

 

That isn’t to say those who were uninjured didn’t hurt. They had a few bumps and bruises, sure, but their morals were broken more than anything. Eira understood. She always understood after witnessing it firsthand.

 

“Sure taken a hit, haven’t they?”

 

“Yeah, the rest of them got eaten. That’s what happens when pride takes you outside the walls.”

 

“Moses! Moses! I beg your pardon! Where is my son? He should be with you all! Oh, please tell me he made it!” An old mother walked out of the crowds on the side, walking up to Shadis. Her son must’ve been enlisted in the Survey Corps. Pleading for an answer, the old woman  grasped onto Shadis’ cape, slightly sinking in worry.

 

“I wish I had better news, Miss.” He answered, Eira prepared for the worst. Shadis turned to a soldier with a bandage over his eye. “Give it to her.” The old mother stepped back, preparing herself more than Eira had just moments before.

 

The soldier came back with something wrapped loosely in a piece of bloody cloth. He gave it to the old woman, and she reluctantly and slowly unwrapped it. In the cloth was a severed arm, all that was left of her son. Her legs gave out and she bursted down into tears. 

 

“I’m sorry. . .that’s all that was left of him.” Shadis said. After a few more tears were released from the poor grieving mother, he kneeled down to her level, prepared to comfort her.

 

“He did good, yes? He was brave?”

 

Shadis’ eyes went wide and he gasped.

 

“Tell me my son stood his ground to the bitter end. . .that his death meant something!! TELL ME HIS SACRIFICE GAVE US A BETTER CHANCE!!!”

 

After a few moments of suspense and dead silence, Shadis answered. Wind passed through the crowd, adding the dramatic effect.

 

“He was brave. . . but, . . . his sacrifice meant nothing.” There was nothing else to say. Everyone, civilian and soldier alike held their heads in grief and remorse. “So if all our losses, the result is always the same; . . .THE DAY IS LOST! WE HAVE NOTHING! YOUR SON DIED BECAUSE OF ME! I SENT HIM TO HIS DEATH! I SENT ALL OF THEM TO THEIR DEATHS!! AND THERE’S NOTHING TO SHOW FOR IT! ALL OF IT AMOUNTS TO NOTHING!!!”

 

Eira had never seen Shadis break down before. She learned two things that day; even the strongest soldiers aren’t invincible. Not even those who seemed like it. The second was yet to come.

  
  


. . .

 

After the whole fiasco, the Survey Corps carried onwards, Eira running off again after Levi spotted her. He didn’t approve of the very fact of her popping up at the most random times, even though everyone else was fine with it. She wandered back into the outskirts of a small field in Shiganshina to think. It wasn’t long until she fell into a deep and well-rewarded sleep. 

 

For a moment, everything was fine, and then that moment ended.

 

Eira was almost blinded by a flash of green and gold lightning appearing out of the sky, and a big thumping sound that knocked her off her feet. It was coming from the entrance of the wall in Shiganshina. She shifted back into her human form, now being twelve years old. 

 

She had dark red hair that ran down to her shoulders and to different colored eyes. One emerald green and the other gold, almost mimicking the color of the explosion. Eira took off towards town. She got close enough to see the source of the panic. And what she saw surprised her in more ways than one.

 

A giant, steaming hand was rested on top of the wall. It had no flesh and was so warm it was steaming. The head of the creature rose up; it was a titan, bigger than the wall itself. It’s skin seemed to be ripped off all of it’s body, and every part of his body was steaming with smoke.

 

Eira couldn’t be positive, but it seemed as if the titan looked directly at her; staring into her soul, searching for answers. As if it was asking the primal questions any psychopath would ask;

 

Another strong impact came, stronger than the last one. The titan kicked down the entrance of the wall, pieces of concrete and debris flying everywhere, hitting anything in it’s path. As everything became calm again and the smoke settled, Eira saw the purpose of the act. Dozens of titans began to enter Wall Maria. The fifty meter titan blew right through the wall as if vandalism was child’s play. Eira wasn’t even sure if she would ever see the titans so soon. 

 

She couldn’t do anything; and she felt useless just as she felt before. She shifted back into a dog running towards the inner walls. No matter how much it hurt her muscles, Eira kept running. She looked everywhere, to see if anybody needed help. As a human, she could easily be prey to the titans. When shifted, she had a better advantage. 

 

Titans may have been big, but they were also slow and stupid. The only thing that drew their attention was humans. Even though Eira couldn’t fight the titans, (not having full control of her powers even after six years of Survey Corps training) she could help others who couldn’t help themselves when disguised as a military dog.

 

_ “Hurry up, dammit!”  _

 

It wasn’t far. The voice was filled with fear and desperation. Fear was almost radiating off of the source’s. The voice seemed to be the same age as herself. It wasn’t hard to distinguish after years of practice.

 

She followed the grunts and pants down a few alleys, before reaching a house crushed by a boulder. There was a woman underneath the debris of the crushed house, two children trying to help her get out, but to no avail. The young boy was the voice she must have followed.

 

In the distance, Eira could hear a titan getting slowly closer.

 

“I’m trying!” Eira ran forward, starting to try and dig the mother out of the debris.

  
  
  


As Eren tried to dig his mother out of the fallen house, he felt a figure appear between him and Mikasa. He gasped as he realised the dog was trying to help dig his mother out of the debris. He noticed the Survey Corps badge on it’s collar.

 

“Mikasa! It’s okay! It’s a military dog! It wants to help us!”

  
  
  


Eira liked hearing that word. As dire as the situation was, she was glad someone appreciated her trying to help.

 

“It’s them . . . we’ve got to get out of here. Eren! Just take Mikasa and Run! Now!” yelled the Mother. 

 

“I WANT TO MORE THAN ANYTHING, BUT FIRST I NEED YOU ON YOUR FEET!!”

 

“Sweetie, listen to me. My legs have been crushed. Even if you could get me out of here, I can’t run. Theres no time!” Eira didn’t listen, she kept digging as the titan targeting them kept crawling closer. She could do it. She could save someone and prove Levi wrong.

 

“WHATEVER, I CAN CARRY YOU!” the boy yelled.

 

“WILL YOU JUST SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO ME FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE?! ONE THING I’M ASKING YOU TO DO!! ONE. THING!! MIKASA, MAKE HIM!”

 

“I-I can’t!” cried the girl.

 

“C’mon, girl! Work faster!” The young boy encouraged the dog to dig as fast as it could under the house to set his mother free.

 

“Eren, you want all three of us to die?” the mother cried. The dog didn’t count; for titans only went to eat humans. Animals were left alone.

 

It almost felt like a curse to Eira. Unfair. Unfair that she could hide from the wrath of the titans and watch everyone else die. Why was she the only one able to efficiently hide? What made her so special?She felt like she should’ve remembered. Why did she have to forget that day? Forget everything. From where she came from to who she was.

 

Eira blocked everything else out, and kept digging. She got as far as the end of the mother’s torso before it happened. She heard screaming of the two children. Eira turned her head around to see the two children being taken away from their mother by a Garrison soldier. Eira was eventually pushed away by the titan preying on the mother. 

 

Eira could only watch as the young boy screamed at the titan to put down his mother. The titan had an ear-to-ear wide smile that burned inside her mind like a brand, and it never went away.  It would appear at the most inconvenient of times. She knew this. Things like that always happened to her; didn’t they?

 

She was frozen. Eira had witnessed firsthand what the titans did before. Why was it different this time? Why couldn’t she move? Her muscles didn’t follow her mind’s instructions; Run. Move. Get out.

 

She had to will her paws to run away from the titan and towards the inner walls to find the Survey Corps.

. . .

 

Eira skidded her paws around the corner of the meat shop in Shinganshina. The butcher was dead; crushed by debris of the wall. Dozens of civilians were running towards the wall, as was she; in hope of gaining sanctuary.

 

She stumbled on a bloody limb, not having the heart to figure out what it was. Eira was pushed by the rummaging civilians, trapped by their legs as she tried to scramble free. A colorful sea of people  pushed her from side to side, making it difficult for her to breathe. She was forced inside a chapel by a tide of panic and fear. It radiated off of the humans like a skunk. Eira was disgusted, not just by the fear, but by the stench of panic and sweat from those in fear of being devoured. A crowd of 

 

She was left with bruises, bumps of the feet and knees of the panicked when everything in the chapel settled and the door was locked. There were nervous pants, grumbles and cries. Eira tried too hard to mumble her way through the crowd, pushing her frail, canine body through the sea of terror. She got as far as the door, trying to scratch her way out.

 

_ “Let me out! They’ll find us in here!”  _ her barks were translated into these words. By no one but her, of course. She wouldn’t dare talk as a dog in the presence of unaware civilians.

 

_ “The titans will find us!!”  _ She yelped “ _ They can hear our breath!”   _ She was so uncomfortably warm that it made her physically sick. She yelped in the hope that someone would let her out. The loud echo of hard concrete being lowered caught her surprise.

 

_ “Let me out!! I’ll miss my chance!! I have to get back to headquarters!! Hanji!! Levi!! Help me!!”  _ Yet another foot pounded her snout, trying to force her to quiet down, trying to push her out of the way. She just wanted to get out. She wanted to get back to headquarters. Not just to report her findings. Eira wanted to be with her family again. She wanted to hear Hanji’s excited laugh, Moblit’s cry of fear, Erwin’s unnerving orders. She never thought she’d say this, but she wanted to hear Levi scold her again. Anything to get out of her this damn church. Was this it? Was this how she died?

 

Out of the corner of her left eye, she saw it. She had been taught over the years to classify titans to figure out her options; she did just that.

 

_ “14 or 15 meters. Abnormal, by the looks of it. What’s it covered with??”  _ The abnormal worried her. It was just . . . standing there. This was the first time she saw one of the covered with . . . what? Rocks?

 

It was well built, like a fighter; a soldier. It’s golden eyes shimmered in the blood red sunset. Almost as if it had a goal, but what? It positioned itself in a running stance, like Eira would herself when racing some of the kids at her school. What was it doing? It wasn’t until after it broke through the wall that she realised too late.

 

_ “It didn’t go for any other humans. . .it went straight for the wall!! He . . . he planned the whole thing??”  _ The thumping grew closer, and closer, and closer. 

 

The titans; they reached the chapel. They were right above them. It was a strange thing to want to do; to hide in a chapel in plain sight. “ _ What drove them to hide in here?”  _ Eira thought. Maybe it was just fear, but most likely ignorance.

 

She finished her plan as quick as she could.  _ “Okay. Okay.Okay, so there is two exits. One of them the entrance, the other possible one being the trap door. Scratch the trap door. Two windows. One on each side of the front door. Okay, I can’t transform. What do I do? What do I do? Box? Box! Box!!”  _

 

There was a box under the left window. The bars were covering it, but she could squeeze through if she tried hard enough. Anything to get out of here. Her head was running in circles and the claustrophobia was starting to get to her. She  brutally shoved her way through the crowd, jumping on the box and squeezing her head through the bars. She was stuck.

 

_ “Come one! Come on!!”  _ She whined. The titans were walking towards the chapel to dig through the roof of the chapel. There was still a possibility that some of the humans could escape; slim, but possible. She couldn’t transform.Through the struggle of squeezing, Eira finally managed to make her way through the bars of the window. She landed, hard. Scrambling off of the dirt, she panted until she was directly in front of the chapel.

 

Eira lifted her exhausting head off of the dirt. Her eyes were burned with a new horrifying image once again. The civilians she was just crowded with moments ago were being eaten. Ripped apart by titans as if they were children fighting over a toys. Their insides were leaking on the screaming pacifists, creating a pond of blood as it pooled inside the chapel; flooding it over the broken building and under the door. Bodies fell short of her, perished. 

 

She had to will her paws once more  to run towards the now hollow wall and find the Survey Corps.

 

The second thing she learned that day was this; there is a price to being paralyzed with utter fear.


	3. CHAPTER TWO - No more - The Fall of Wall Maria: Part 2

Eira wasn’t an expert on the titans; nor an expert on humans. Ironically, humans and titans didn’t mix together. It amused her in a way, with them being so similar in appearance. But they were nothing alike. Again, things didn’t add up in her mind. Since they were similar to humans in appearance, so didn’t it make sense that maybe they were somehow connected through biology.

 

How exactly they were connected was beyond her. It was like wolves and dogs; one more hostile and dangerous than the other, but connected by blood and ancestral origins. Was it possible?

 

Again, it was currently pushed out in the back of her mind.

 

Heavily breathing as she passed the dozens of bodies lying in the street, she resorted to stumbling amidst the stone ground. Eira’s heart couldn’t handle it after witnessing what she had seen in the church. Her very soul felt utterly weak. She stumbled over everything that came within her path, not even seeing to care.

 

It didn’t make sense to her. She thought she had seen all the horrors the world had to offer to her. It wasn’t until now that she vastly underestimated just what the world was holding back. How could that be? Eira herself was raised in a world where she learned what hell was very quickly and how cruel the world really was.

 

She stopped to watch the fire, the blood, the bodies; to catch her breath. Titans weren’t in this area of Monzen, yet. She was safe . . . for now. A familiar, vigorous pressure against the air caught her attention, causing Eira’s ears to flap for a moment and then perk up. It was a crow. 

 

Eira had shifted into them from time to time. Shifting was essential for Hanji’s experiments and Levi’s hours-long training sessions. Birds were nice to hang around with. They flew places she didn’t even know about, and they talked to her when in her shifted state. The crow landed on the bloody body of a middle-aged garrison soldier a few feet away from her. It lowered its head and brushed a piece of concrete away to taste the flesh of the man’s limp hand.

 

The crow lifted up its head again and snapped towards the sad, weak dog, locking eyes with her. It let out a screech, translating into a simple  _ “Hello,”  _ before flying off to feast again.

 

Eira kept moving.

 

. . .

 

“UNTIL THAT TIME A WRETCHED SOUL AND PARTED. FROM GOD WAS I,  AND WHOLLY AVARICIOUS. NOW, AS THOU SEEST, I HERE AM PUNISHED FOR IT. WHAT AVARICE DOTH IS HERE MADE MANIFEST. IN THE PURGATION OF THESE SOULS CONVERTED, AND NO MORE BITTER PAIN THE MOUNTAIN HATH. WHAT MORE, O AVARICE, CANST THOU DO TO US, SINCE THOU MY BLOOD SO TO THYSELF HAST DRAWN, IT CARETH NOT FOR ITS OWN PROPER FLESH?” A deranged wall cultist rambled on from his bible, watching every citizen be devoured by the titans; eventually being devoured, himself. His rambling went on until he physically couldn’t anymore.

 

“WHAT MORE, O AVARICE-”  _ s n a p . . . _

 

After the  _ more than unusual  _ abnormal had broken through the gate that connected the outer Shiganshina to Wall Maria, titans had continued to flow through without any form of restraint. The local Garrison brigade wasn’t much help. They tried, at least.

 

Eira ran along the track of the boats, following them towards Wall Rose. She was tired, the energy basically drained from her body. The only thing that kept her moving forward was the will to survive. Nobody told you that the will to survive would hurt so much; but she knew that Erwin left that out for a reason. More sudden pain came upon her head in a sudden  _ t h w a k!!  _ It forced her to tumble to the ground and let out a whine of torture and discomfort.

 

Her head throbbed from what she soon saw was a rock, briefly splashed with the blood from her head wound. “YOU!! YOU DAMN DUMB DOG!! YOU’RE THE REASON MY MOM IS DEAD!! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO HELP AND YOU DIDN’T TRY HARD ENOUGH!!” It was one of the children whose mother she tried to dig out of the debris. He was changed, though. Less of a child now in just an hour she last saw him; seemingly damaged more than she even was when she first saw the titan’ and their cruel ways.

 

The way he looked at her with those pained eyes, it hurt her. It was silly, really. She didn’t even know him. So, why was she so hurt? But it did. It hurt so much. Her secret kept her from helping. If she had just forgotten that her true origins were supposed to be hidden, she would’ve been able to help more than she tried. What stopped her?

 

Eira continued running, trying to brush off the pain; dramatically failing. She still-somehow-managed to make it inside Wall Rose.

 

. . .

 

Eira walked past the refugee camps, not bearing to see all the survivors begging for the remaining rations. Everyone who survived the fall of wall Maria was now under the protection of Wall Rose. Two days had passed since the attack of the Colossal titan. She avoided facing the Scouts as they came back from trying to fight back the titans. Something was different, though; Shadis wasn’t with them. What had happened in the time she wasn’t with them?

 

Eira was starting to assume the worst had happened. She didn’t have the courage to go up and ask where he was; afraid for everyone else’s heart and her own.

 

She was hoping that she had enough courage to face them, now. After all, HQ wasn’t a long way from where she currently was.

 

She had changed back into the shy ten year old with messy red hair. She was starving herself; she didn’t bother to take any of the rations she was offered, let alone make eye contact with another human being. Eira couldn’t get the blood off of her skin. Then again, she hadn’t bothered to wash it off, as if she was torturing herself. Almost as if she deserved it; deserved to look at herself and be reminded of what she did.

  
  


The day was bright and hot as well as the breeze that brushed against Eira’s fur. She was still covered in dried blood that stuck her fur together. Her eyes were heavy and she hadn’t got any sleep from the past day. Nightmares plagued her dreams, almost making it impossible for her to rest. So, Eira did what she always did; she kept moving. Sure, it wasn’t always that effective, but it was the only thing she knew how to do best (despite having over four years of personal training, both in titan slaying and “special forces.”). 

 

_ To be honest, Eira really hated herself sometimes. _

 

The Survey Corps wasn’t that far away now. A few more miles and she would be back. Probably feeling the same, though. She really debated whether or not she should go back home. Eira didn’t know if she could go and face Erwin, Mike, Hanji, and especially Levi. She wasn’t prepared to hear Levi’s angry remarks asking her where she was and that she shouldn’t have gone outside of HQ until they had gotten back from their mission. The last thing she needed was to go deaf after having the worst day she ever had in her life . . . so far. 

 

_ “Maybe I should just go to the tree. But . . .”  _ She cringed at the thought of being criticized.  _ “ . . .No! I’m not a coward! I can face them! . . .at least . . . I’ll try.”  _ The truth was she wasn’t afraid of criticism, she was afraid of failure. Afraid of disappointment. It was what she feared the most. She told herself to go to hell, go die in fire, basically every insult she heard Levi say to Nile. More times than not, she felt unworthy that she was about to entrusted with such an important job in the most dangerous regiment in the military. But she was content to play her role and provide special abilities for humanity’s survival

 

With a heavy heart, Eira walked into view of the Survey Corps. She was surprised to see them acting normal. Erwin was writing down any casualties (probably a lot) that happened while trying to reclaim Wall Maria. Mike was talking with Nanaba, who were both taking off their ODM gear, as was most of the regiment. Moblit was arguing with Hanji about possible new methods to capture titans.

 

Eira hid in the nearby bushes, not wanting to intrude  _ just  _ yet. She wanted to see how this would unfold.

 

“Commander, I don’t think now is the time to be discussing new methods!”

 

“Now is the  _ best  _ time to be discussing new methods, Moblit!! Titans have now invaded the outermost wall and that there makes our decisions more dire than ever!! All we need is for me to get my hands on one lousy titan and we can-!”

 

“Shut up, Four-eyes!! How can you be acting like this when we just lost ten thousand of the fucking human population!?!? This isn’t a good time!!”

 

“Levi, you know as well as I do that there is never a good time to talk about titans! Nobody wants to talk about it, but it has to be talked about!! Bottom line, don’t tell me what I can and can’t do, shortstack!!”

 

“Don’t go there! Don’t pretend like-!”

 

“Stop it, you two!! You’re both acting like children!! And Levi’s right, Hanji. You can’t . . .”

 

“Can’t what?”

 

“Hanji . . . when was the last time you saw Eira?”

 

“Not since Shiganshin-. . . .oh, my god!! Where is she??!”

 

Eira, taking a deep breath and tearing up, ran up to the Survey Corps; prepared to face the judgement. 

 

The others, heard the familiar pitter-patter of bare feet on grass growing closer to them, and almost immediately knew what it was. Each of them let out a gasp, turning their heads towards the ginger-headed little girl sprinting towards them, drenched from head-to-toe in blood. They felt relief wash over them as Eira ran towards them as they lightly laughed in reassurance..Their eyes looked at her and lit up with shock and utter astonishment. They expected her to at least make it back alive, but what exactly happened to her?

 

She was crying, her eyes swollen and red; but not a much as the tears flowing from her eyes, made with her blood and mixing with the dried blood on her face. Eira directly ran up to them, not caring who’s arms she had jumped into as long as it was someone. Hanji stepped in front of the other higher-ups, kneeling down and opening her arms for the little girl to run in.

 

“Eira, you’re safe!” The two wrapped their arms around each other, Hanji picking Eira up when she was secure in her arms.

 

The others gathered around Hanji holding the young child, checking to see if she had any major injuries. Thankfully, she didn’t. They tried to talk to her s she cried, but she couldn’t respond. She couldn’t feel like she could handle it.

 

“Eira, where hell were you?! You can’t just run off like that without telling us!”

 

“Levi! Now is not the time!”

 

Hanji took a break from comforting her, looking up at the others in disbelief that she was here. She resolved to comfortingly brushing her head.“Why are you covered in blood, honey?” She asked. 

 

The company stood like that for a moment, Eira not talking, and continuing to sob in Hanji’s shoulder. Mike walked up to them from a few feet away, putting a hand on Eira and softly rubbing her back.”You don’t have to say anything, kiddo. You wanna just go inside?” 

 

Eira didn’t respond for a moment, but replied in a simple “. . .mmmhmm. . .” She didn’t say anything more after that. She had, in fact, passed out from exhaustion; limp inside the commander’s arms. Hanji took her back inside headquarters, the others following her and Mike.

 

. . .

 

That year, in terrified haste, the Central Government decided to withdraw all human activity inside of Wall Rose. The titans had devoured over 10,000 people at that time. Those who were put into refugee camps were sent to plow in the wastelands as a last resort to harvest food. Not even that could prevent the major and devastating shortage. The cold, hard year resulted in barely anything. The year 846 brought even more devastating. 

 

The Military launched a campaign revolving around a plan to take back the outermost wall using those from the refugee camps. Those who were old enough to serve in the military were forcefully provided with the task of reclaiming Wall Maria.  Almost a fifth of the population was forced to join the Scouts on this mission. Although two hundred and fifty thousand went out to reclaim Wall Maria, not even two hundred soldiers had made it back to Wall Rose alive. 

 

However, with the amount of people left to be sacrificed, the epidemic of famine lessened within the now outermost wall.

 

. . .

 

YEAR 847, 

 

Moments like this were rare. They almost seemed unnatural. The peace was somewhat uneasy, but also calming. Disguised as a wolf in the forest, Eira set off on a personal hunt. She’d find deer if she was lucky, and bring some shares back to save for later. Rabbits or fish were more likely, though. It was quiet out in the forest today. Almost a little too quiet for comfort.

 

Eira, now thirteen years old, spent her days mostly in silence. She still lusted for the downfall of the titans, and still resented herself. Age aside, she was still the kind, awkward girl she had always been.

 

A part of her was hesitant to take on the buck she had sighted. It may have had a bad leg, but it’s antler’s were full grown. Picking off a smaller prey would be less risky, but Eira doubted she could find anything else. 

 

_ “No. . .I’m not going to run away from obstacles anymore. I won’t be subjected to fear any longer.” _

 

Using the tall grass of the meadow, she positioned herself down on the ground, away from the buck at a jumping distance. Adrenaline pumped through her veins as she leapt towards the buck with a threatening snarl. Snapping at the bucks legs at first, than giving it a warning sign near it’s face, she blocked off where it was trying to run. Then again. Again. 

 

The buck stumbled under it’s fear and injured leg. Eira doged it’s strikes and kicks with simplicity. She chased it for a while until it was cornered under a steep cliff. The young wolf leapt up and pressed her jaws solidly into the deer’s neck. Pushed on it’s side with the strength of Eira’s paws, it thrashed

 

It began to choke on the air it would soon lose. Eira could feel the bull weakening underneath her jaws. She sunk her teeth in deeper, tasting the warm blood that rushed into her throat. The whites of the elk’s eyes were exposed. It kept shaking back and forth to throw Eira off, but it couldn’t; it’s fate was sealed. It was still alive though, but barely; just grasping onto it’s lifeline.

 

_ “I see your soul, my brother. I thank you for your life. You have fought well. You will sustain my life and the life of others very well. Go now to the drift and rest in peace.”  _ Eira said her quiet prayer, thanking the animal for giving it’s life so hers could be sustained.

 

She opened her jaws. Allowing herself to breathe. With that, the young female dug her teeth back into the neck of her prey, dragging it back to be butchered at her tree.

 

. . . 

 

It was a good thing she had caught that deer, earlier. Eira didn’t see anything else for the rest of the day as she headed back for her tree.

 

She refused to leave any parts over the deer’s body unused. The meat she had stored away in her tree. She gave the head to a nearby group of crows, it’s fur she had cleaned to be made into clothes later, the antlers hung on the branches to scare away the ghosts. What was left that she didn’t need she gave to a family of foxes not far from her tree.

 

Eira believed that if not all the parts of an animal’s body was used, she would go back on her prayer.; which she would never ever do.

 

She slept in her tree that night, wrapping herself in warm furs while watching the moon and stars.

 

. . .

 

_ “Eira? Eira? Wake up, sweetie.” _

 

Someone’s voice was calling her name, trying to wake her up out of her sleep. Eira hadn’t even felt like she had slept that long. Exactly how long was she asleep? She rolled over in her hammock, covering her face with her furs. How early was it? Why would Hanji wake her up so early?

 

_ “Eira, wake the fuck up!”  _

 

She was  _ literally  _ nudged out of her hammock this time, kicked by none other than Levi. Though, she was sure he didn’t mean to shove her out. But she wasn’t that far off from the ground, anyway; so she wasn’t really hurt. She stumbled on the ground for a moment, tangled up in her blankets. 

 

“What in the hell was that supposed to be for!?” Her mismatched eyes widened in disbelief. 

 

“What? You wouldn’t wake up. . .” Levi scoffed, as if that was a good enough excuse for the girl.

 

“You’re like a child, Levi. Jeez, did you have to literally push me out?” She asked, looking up at Hanji and Levi perched at the top of her tree. Eira pushed the tangled blankets off of her body, proceeding to fold them.

 

“Tch. . .No.”

 

“Of course you didn’t.” Hanji snapped her head towards the Captain, rolling her eyes with Levi almost in unison.

 

“Why did you have to wake me up anyway? It’s a wednesday, isn’t it?” Wednesdays were declared days that the survey corps had off if there wasn’t a particular mission planned that day.

 

“True. But we need to get you signed up to go to the Cadet Corps in a week.” Hanji explained. Eira didn’t even remember until now. She knew the day to enlist was coming, but she had been caught up in other things leading up to today.

 

Eira finished braiding her hair before tying it up to fit to the confinements of her head with a hairpin carved from an antler. 

 

Registration would start within a few hours, so she had to get going if she was going to be there before the slots ran out. All year, each day, she requested the others to train her harder and longer than they did before(with the exception of wednesdays). 

 

“ _ No mercy, like real conflict,”  _ to put it in her words. They all obliged. They didn’t train her to death, they would say, afraid that they might set something off due to her  _ ‘special condition.’ _

 

Eira changed into a white long-sleeved dress that reached just below her knees, as well as a dark blue vest. Levi and Hanji forced her to wear a bear of red boots; which she protested to, but was forced to oblige. She didn’t wear shoes unless she absolutely had to. It wasn’t that she found them uncomfortable, she just felt more natural without them on her feet. 

 

But she knew that others would question her nails; asking things such as, “why are your nails black?” or “Why are they so sharp?” Her fingernails were the same, but people didn’t ask many questions when they saw those, surprisingly.She wore bandages on her hands, hiding her bruised knuckles, as well as the tree marking on the back of her left hand.

 

Trost wasn’t that far away. Not exactly a walking distance, but on horseback, it wasn’t as bad for those with experience. When Levi, Hanji and Eira got there, the line wasn’t that long as they had expected it to be. Maybe a fifteen minute wait? Not that bad.

 

The three dismounted their horses from afar, and Eira took a deep breath, walking up with as much confidence as she could muster. She lied a little bit in her paperwork, as she didn’t know exactly where she was born. Eira couldn’t exactly put ‘Survey Corps’ as her place of residence. She put Down Blansko as place of birth as well as residence. It was a small village that wasn’t that far from headquarters. It would work. Even so, the military was able to cover up her  _ ‘suspicious’  _ past just with a few documents. She probably had nothing to worry about. 

 

The paperwork wasn’t that long. A couple pages asking her if she had any conditions or illnesses they should know about. All she put down was ‘insomnia,’ which she did have from time to time, so it wasn’t exactly a lie.

 

In about an hour, she would now be known as Eira Ravenwood of Blansko, 104th Cadet Corps trainee.

 

ONE WEEK LATER

 

“STRAIGHTEN UP THOSE SPINES, PISSHEADS!! THE 104TH CADET BOOT CAMP STARTS NOW!! Allow me to introduce myself, I’m commander Keith Shadis and you WILL grow to hate me!! Training is going to be a white knuckle ride through hell! After my job is done, you’ll all be waking up in cold sweat from memories of this place every night for the rest of your MISERABLE LIVES!! Right now, you are NOTHING! LIVESTOCK! Over the next three soul crushing years, YOU’LL LEARN TO TAKE DOWN YOUR OWN GOLIATH!! Remember this moment when you come face to face with the titans! Here is where you ask yourself; ‘AM I A FIGHTER, OR AM I CATTLE!?’ The choice lies in your hands!”

 

_ “I have been trained for years to become the titan’s worst nightmare. When I’m done here, I’ll lust for their downfall even more than I did before. I have an advantage over everyone here; they don’t know what I am. But I’m no longer going to play by the rules and hide what I am while others could be dying.” _

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on deviantart for possible art about this story, updates and more!  
> http://arrowazura.deviantart.com/


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